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After renting properties in Hong Kong for five years, one man decided to push the boat out and buy his next abode: a 65-foot yacht.
Wearing  sandals and armed with an ice-cold  drink, Raphael Genoud looks ready to settle into his new 2,500 sq ft floating home - for the time being.
'I don't like having the same life for too long,' says the Swiss designer, who works with luxury brands. 'I'm always looking out for a new project, even with my home.'
His attitude explains his four previous moves - all into rental apartments - in the five years he has been in Hong Kong. Then, last April, Genoud embarked on a project with a difference: making a home in  a 65-foot yacht.
Like many live-aboard owners in Hong Kong, he has no plans to  test his sea legs  by moving the vessel from  the marina  in which  it is moored. 'When I bought the boat,  it was the amount of space for the price that attracted me,' Genoud says. 'I was not looking for the freedom to sail anywhere.'
It's just as well given that none of the amenities  - including indoor and outdoor jacuzzis, solid wooden furniture and carved stone antiques - was chosen for buoyancy.
The newly built yacht was gutted and the interior customised in a Zhuhai shipyard in six months. Genoud, who frequently  does business on the mainland,  oversaw the work throughout the course of 10 trips.
Accessed through the narrow portside entrance, the most spacious of the five compartments houses the living area,  which features   day beds and a couple of large Balinese and Chinese statues  to complement the teak flooring. By day, the room opens out onto a short deck and  a view of the marina  from the  stern.
At night, Genoud's vision of a 'party boat'  is brought to life with the help of tiny LED lights  lining both sides of the room. A large screen is lowered over the glass doors  for the overhead projector, while the  audio system  plays Genoud's selection of acid jazz and lounge music. His original design  blueprint included a long bar in the centre of the room but this was omitted for  the sake of  space. Instead, he stores his bar tools and bottles in a giant stone trough against the  wall.
Below deck,  his 12-year-old son's  bedroom is the most nautically themed part of the home. Apart from the double bed - with a tapered frame  to echo the shape of the bow - there is also a bunk bed that offers a space-saving solution for sleepover guests and a 180 degree view of the bay from a glass cubbyhole built into the ceiling. An en-suite bathroom makes the room a self-contained unit.
'My son will probably really enjoy the privacy when he's a little older,' he says.
In contrast to the openness of the living area, the master suite has a peaceful, womb-like quality not uncommon to semi-submerged cabins. Genoud keeps the small bedside windows (which are just above the water line)  shuttered,  relying instead on  soft lighting -  hidden bulbs along the top of  the wall-to-wall closet and spotlights  around  the open bathroom and jacuzzi.
At the foot of the teak bed is a  concealed flat-screen TV, which emerges at the push of a button.
'[This] is where I know I won't be bothered,' Genoud says. 'It is total relaxation.'
A half-level up from the living room, the fitted kitchen remains  the domain of the housekeeper.  Even so, Genoud made sure all the basic cooking appliances were  installed, and  opted for stainless steel for the cabinets and white Corian for the counter-tops.
Although snug, the top deck is every weekend-escapist's dream. Inside, two well-stocked, built-in wine refrigerators flank a solid wooden dining table and benches, inspired by a German beer hall.  Outside, accessible through sliding glass doors, Genoud installed a gas-lit barbecue next to an L-shaped dining booth and table. The 1,800-litre jacuzzi sits under a retractable canopy. During its installation, an extra HK$20,000 was  spent on structural reinforcement  to support the mammoth tub.
'I try to spend as much time here as I can,' Genoud says. 'I like to make business calls from here, sometimes with a drink in hand.'
A self-professed nomad, Genoud doesn't see himself at this address for more than two or three years. 'I like to change my life from time to time. I might look for another boat or a flat next time. But for now, I'm enjoying this.'
1 The centrepiece of the deck is a jacuzzi measuring 1.85 metres by 2 metres wide and 80cm deep (HK$16,900, from  Guangzhou Monalisa Sanitary Ware,  Hua Qiao Economic Development Area, Hua Dong Town, Hua Du, Guangzhou,  tel: 86 20 2860 7788). Owner Raphael Genoud keeps the 1,800-litre tub filled at all times, and covers it with cushions that create a lounging space. The  1.13-tonne weight  of the filled jacuzzi is  supported by fibreglass reinforcements.   Genoud hired a crane for HK$2,500  to lift the tub - as well as other heavy items, such as the giant bonsai on the living-room deck - aboard. The outdoor dining-table top  stands on a  remote-controlled telescopic leg,  allowing Genoud to adjust its height from that of a coffee table to a bar top (HK$8,000, built by Bondway Enterprises, suite 5, 20/F Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Central,  tel: 2987 1596;  www.bondway.com). The beer-hall-inspired indoor dining table and  two benches were designed by Genoud and built by his company, AGSA Asia (tel: 2541 7207;  www.agsaasia.com), for a total of HK$30,000. They  have a lacquered veneer piano finish.  The cushions were made by  La Maison  (134 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai,  tel: 2821 9768) for a total of HK$3,000.
2 Working to  Genoud's specifications,  Bondway Enterprises   used teak for the flooring and bedframe. It was sourced from Indonesia for about HK$16,000 a cubic metre. Teak flooring for the entire boat cost about HK$400 a square metre. To soften the space, the ceiling is padded with synthetic suede (HK$160 a metre, from  Fifield HK,  unit B, 10/F,  1 Wing Yip Street,  Kwai Chung,  tel: 2359 9582;  e-mail: asia@ fifieldfabrics.com). The hidden LED lights were sourced from  PLC Lighting  (shop 4, Lockhart Rd, Wan Chai,  tel: 2519 6275). The total cost of construction for the suite was HK$22,000. Genoud carved out a place in his open bathroom for  another jacuzzi. The heart-shaped tub for two was purchased for HK$8,000 from  B&Q  (Megabox, Enterprise Square 5, 38 Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay,  tel: 3651 1000). The sink, mirrors, bath marble (HK$300 a sq metre), mirrors and wood were all sourced through Bondway Enterprises.
3 Genoud kept  some  pieces  from his previous homes, such as the Chinese  warrior sculpture he bought on Hollywood Road and the oversized bonsai. He  asked Bondway to build three different-sized daybeds,  with imitation suede cushions, which were custom made by La Maison. The total cost  was HK$34,000. His  audio-visual system, including projector and  screen, mounted Bose speakers and subwoofer  came from  AV Life  (shop 2002, IFC Mall, Central,  tel: 2295 3398) for a total of HK$108,000.
4 Genoud's small study occupies the space in front of his bedroom. Two surrounding walls (not pictured)  were made magnet-friendly with 3mm-thick iron sheeting (about HK$5,000 for  3 metres by 3 metres), which was  painted  to   match the other walls. The curved table was designed by Genoud and  AGSA Asia   and built by Bondway Enterprises for HK$4,500.  The orange office chair (HK$6,530) is from  POSH  (18/F, Shui On Centre, 188 Lockhart Road,  tel: 2816 2282).  Synthetic leather (about HK$90 a metre from Fifield HK) was used for the ceiling.
5 In Genoud's son's bedroom  storage space was built into the main bed frame, which  features teak steps on either side for easy access. The loft bed, two metres above the floor, is built from fibreglass and moulded into the wall. The total construction cost of the room was about HK$150,000.
6 In playful homage to his heritage, Genoud used the red and white colours of the Swiss flag for his guest toilet on the living-room level. To match the red walls, he fitted a red lacquer bowl - found in a Balinese street market for US$15  - as the sink. The leather cabinet handles, which are  used on most of the storage compartments throughout the boat, were sourced from  Opening Decorative Material Supplies  (3/F, 206 Lockhart Road,  tel: 2519 9951).
7 Genoud wanted a laboratory look  for his kitchen, so he chose extra-white Corian countertops and stainless-steel cabinetry. The refrigerator, oven and stove top are all from  Siemens  (shop G1, Baskerville House, 13 Duddell Street, Central,  tel: 2511 2323). The total cost of the kitchen construction was HK$124,000.
Tried + tested
WOOD WORKS
To  disguise the plainness of the sealed window edges in the living room, Raphael Genoud and the Bondway Enterprises builders (tel: 2987 1596) framed them with teak. The five-metre-long frames (HK$4,000 each) bridge two openings and give the impression of  depth and continuity.
Styling David Roden



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